Former President Donald Trump issued an official statement on Tuesday evening in which he both denied a new Daily Beast report about his attempts to get his Justice Department to shut down Saturday Night Live and then confirmed that he believes the show was engaging in “illegal” activity by making fun of him.
“The story that I asked the Department of Justice to go after ratings-challenged (without Trump!) Saturday Night Live, and other late-night Losers, is total Fake News,” Trump declared. “It was fabricated, there were no sources, and yet the Lamestream Media goes with it.” The report cites two sources who were aware that Trump asked advisers and lawyers what the DOJ could do to stop SNL.
“I did say, however, that Alec Baldwin has no talent, certainly when it comes to imitating me,” Trump added, before shouting out the cast member who preceded him. “The one who had what it took was Darrell Hammond.”
“With all of that being said, however, I do believe that the 100% one-sided shows should be considered an illegal campaign contribution from the Democrat Party,” Trump continued, essentially confirming the sentiment at the center of the story. Then, after saying it’s “hard to believe I got 75 million votes (the most of any sitting President) despite all of that, together with a very Fraudulent Election,” he hinted at another White House run in “2024 or before!”—apparently confirming another piece of reporting that he believes he could be reinstated as early as this August.
